UConn, Duke To Meet in 2023, ’24
The Story: UConn finalized the scheduling of a home-and-home football series with Duke, with the Huskies set to host the first game on Sept. 2, 2023 before returning to Wallace Wade Stadium on Sept. 14, 2024.
WHAT’S THE BIG DEAL? Adding Duke to the schedule four years from now hardly qualifies as something a paperboy would excitedly hawk on a street corner, but it’s June and we’ve got to justify taking your hard-earned subscription dollars. Besides, scheduling another Power 5 team is actually good for the Huskies, who have suffered from a general lack of excitement regarding their choice of opponents in recent seasons (we’re looking at you, everyone in the AAC).
Scheduling Duke, of course, would only rouse the masses if the game was to be played with a round orange ball inside of Gampel Pavilion, but it’s a step forward for UConn, which could easily fill its schedule with games against Toledo, Old Dominion and directional state schools. The Huskies have Illinois and Indiana on the schedule this fall and the next, and they also have series scheduled against Purdue and N.C. State.
BUYING IN: As Power 5 teams begin to examine their scheduling philosophies, games against Group of 5 teams are becoming increasingly rare — though they’re not as endangered as the time-honored tradition of beating up on an FCS opponent. For the largest, most successful schools, Group of 5 games offer little in terms of a College Football Playoff resume builder, and athletic directors are no longer willing to be held hostage by smaller schools demanding an exorbitant amount for a guarantee game.
Randy Edsall has, for a long time, had a specific vision of an ideal nonconference schedule, and padding out a mostly unappealing conference slate with a few intriguing ACC and Big Ten teams each year is a good way to offer fans a bit of balance.
EDSALL LANDS RECRUITS: UConn landed its first two Class of 2020 recruits amid its summer camps, with a pair of Florida high schoolers making the decision to head to Storrs after they graduate. Marques Alexander is a 6-foot-2, 210-pound defensive end from St. Petersburg who also had an offer from Georgia Tech and Alfred Chea is a 6-foot-2, 188-pound cornerback from Jacksonville who has a scholarship offer from USF.
Morning Read
DANGERFIELD, WESTBROOK RECOVERING: If you missed it late last week, point guards Crystal Dangerfield (left hip) and Evina Westbrook (left knee) are both recovering from offseason surgery but should be healthy by the start of next season. (Hearst Connecticut Media)
FOREVER YOUNG: After a successful first season at Saint Joseph, Jim Calhoun is not ready to walk away from coaching just yet. (Hartford Courant)
CASHING IN: The New Orleans Pelicans hired Swin Cash to serve in a scouting and executive role, making her the second former UConn women’s basketball star to make such a leap after Sue Bird was hired by the Denver Nuggets in November. (NBA.com)
SAMUELSON HURT: Chicago Sky guard Katie Lou Samuelson, who is averaging 2.3 points in 13.3 minutes per game to start her rookie year, is out indefinitely with a hand injury. (Chicago Sun-Times)
MOVING UP: The New York Mets promoted left-hander Anthony Kay, drafted out of UConn in 2016, to Triple-A Syracuse. (Newsday)
